Bucket and bucket elevator and dredge



March 24, 1931. F. H. COTHAY I BUCKET AND BUCKET ELEVATOR ANITTJIUEJDGE Filed Dec. 3, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR m. 13 ELM W March 24, 1931. F. H. COTHAY ,7 7, 0

BUCKET AND BUCKET ELEVATOR AND DREDGE' Filed Dec. 3, g 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 aieniea'Mar. 24,1931

FRANK H R'N A A N oo'rHAY, or nonnon, ENGLAND; n'ss rsnon or ONE-HALE .To norr TINLIMI'I'ED, or LONDON, ENGLAND, 'A IBRITISHVVQOMVPANY' 'IBUGKETANZD Buoxn'ir- LEvAToR nun banner: f

originalapp lication filed. .iu'ne 8,1927, Serial no.-197,43s', and a Germany Ma 31,'1927.] Divided and this if V v application filed December 3,1928. "serialli'o. 323,523. 7

This j relates to elevators andv dredges, one form of which has been'de'scribed 1 and claimed in our co-pending application Serial No. 197,438, from which the application hasbeen divided. I g

It is well known thata bucket which is filled with stiif plastic material which is impel vious to air, suchas Wet clay or like sticky present plastic material, cannot be easily emptied, For example, in the "use of bucket elevators V forsdredging operations where these have to h be employed on clayey. material, the buckets of the elevatorfrequently become filled with V clay' which refuses to fall outof the buckets when these reachthe discharging point of the elevator, with the consequence that as soon as asubstanti'al proportion of the buckets are thus' choked, the elevator has torbe stopped and all; the buckets cleared by -hand, which is not only laborious but a serious waste of from the buckets by means of water-jets at high pressure directed upon the. material therein with'the object of 'sluicing them out while they are in motion, but this plan is not Wholly successful, as the water-jets tend to merely cut holes in the clay and not to remove the clay from the bucket bodily in the limited- I time available during the passage of each bucket 'In consequence, the usual practice when digging clay is to fillrthe bucket partially only; It is 'anobject of the invention 7 to provide a, construction of bucket elevator V or dredge in which the buckets may be filled full and readilyll' discharged by automatic means.

The invention comprises in a bucket elevator or dredgethefcombination of a chain of buckets, channels in the buckets which are.

provided with mouths outside the buckets and which channels extend from the mouths to the interior of the buckets near the bottoms thereof, and a nozzle for a water-jet situated at the approachto thepoint of dischargeof the bucket and mounted to move about'the axis of the upper tumbler as centre,.1neans to connect the said nozzle operatively with the bucket chainrto move incompany: with each bucketthrough an are as the bucket rides over the upper tumbler and thereafterto disconnect the nozzle-and returnitto its initial, ,positlon' for moving in company with a following bucket in ,the chain, so thatYas each bucket arrives at the point of discharge and is inverted, a Water-jet may be directed nom i the nozzle into themouth-of thechannel of each bucket in X i I p the manner hereinafter to be QQSCIlbGd,

The" accompanying drawihg illustrates an example of a construction of bucket elevator in accordance wlth the invention.

In the-drawing Figure 1 is a sidefelevation of the I circumferentially adjustable mounting; a time. It has been attempted to remove clay constructed in accordance with the present The general parts of an elevator or dredge invention are of the usjual construction, e the buckets being mounted upon an endless chain Y which travels over a tumbler atthe upper end. The buckets come upifilledtin passingover the tumbler they are invertedaand discharged of the material which they containintoa-chuteQ in theusual way. i

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, thelupp 13,, and the water-supply 24.

Infthepresent construction the nozzle 50 is in its normal positioinfllocatedclose to the side of the bucketso that it almost comes into contactwith the mouth'16 of the channel 15 in each bucket. *The mouth 16 is turned 'outwardlyratthe sides ofthe bucket and is shieldedby'acowl 51 to prevent the entrance of dirt or stones when the bucket is moving er tumbler is marked 10, the sides 11, the buckets 4 Figure 2 is in the upper part'a front elevation of 'the'same and in the lower part a the shaft.

ried upon the upper end of an arm and the arm 55 projects from a ring 56 which is mou ted on a carrier 5! fitting upon the shaft- 58 of the upper tumbler so that the bearing for the ring 56 is concentric with The ring 56 carries also a counterbalance arm 87 having an adjustable counterweight 88 which serves to return the arm 55 normally to its uppermost position. In order to cushion the partsag i coiled spr ng; 89 is located in casing 90 supported in a fixed bracket-6T whichprOlflCts from the framework of the dreC The casing 90 is screw-threadedv where it passes through the bracket so that the position of the spring 89 may be adjusted and the position to which the arm 55 is returned maybe set according totlie requirements of the mechanism. I

'The carrier 57 has a rim 85 which is slottedat anuinber of intervals in a radial direction to receive sliding pawl" 59'. The pawls 59 are movable in the slots towards and their inner ends thev form abutments to cooperate with anabutinent 6O on-the side of the arm 55 which carries the nozzle. At their outer ends they c'arry'operating portions in the form of rollers 61 which won. in a cam-groove 62 in a circumferential 'disengaging cam '63. To facilitate assembly the pawls are held in place in the slots in the rim 85 by means of pins 83 which pass through slots'84- and the pawls.

The disengaging cam 63 is supported in a bearing in the carrier 5'? as shown at 64c and it is held from rotation with the carrier by a screw 65 which projects tangentially from a lug 66 on the cam and engages the fixed bracket 67. The screw 65 is adjustable relatively to the bracket 67 by means of nuts 68, 69, and this permits the circumferential position of the cam to be adjusted. The disengaging cam 63 is so shaped'that over the greater part of their movement around the tumbler the pawls 59 are held close to the ring 56. In thi position, as soon as oneof the pawls hits the abutment 60, the arm 55 begins to move with the tumbler and this movement is continued until the pawl is withdrawn by the disengaging cam,which is accomplished when the pawl reaches the raised portion 70 or the cam; Thereupon the abutment 60 being no longer engaged by the pawl, the counterweight 58 returns'the arm 55 to its initial position. The number of the pawls 59 is equal to the number of the sides of the upper tumbler, and the relative position of the pawls 59 and the abutments 60 are so chosen that the nozzle 50 will lie opposite to the mouth 16 of the channel 15 in the bucket when the pawl and the abutment are engaged with one another. I v v r In order to ensure accurate centering'of s t shock a stiil.

the nozzle upon the mouth 16 the nozzle is the nozzle. 50 is also made adjustable in a radial direction by mounting it in a ball-and socket oint in the slide 71 and providing an adjusting-screw .77 which works in a lug 78 projecting from the slide 71 and engages an -79 extending laterally di'rom' the nozzle. Itjis contemplated thatv a high pressure water-jet should be used, pressure being of the order of 25 pounds or more per square inch; and that the pressurecause'd by theinreduction of this high pressure water to the underside of the clay in the bucket will be suiiicient to dislodge the same'and to prevent any tendency to retain 'theiclay matter by sir 1 t e bucket.

'VJhile the invention has been described with =rei erence'to a bucket dredge it will "be evident that the application of the invention is not limited to such dredges butthat it may be employed for freeingany buckets which are liable to become clogged from any materials which they maycontain. For example,

the skipsl'of mechanical shovels, skipsmountedupon a crane, or-smaller buckets, in Whatever connection employed, may all be constructed with water channels and emptied in accordance with the present invention.

1. In a bucket elevator or dredge, the combination of a chain of buckets,-a channel in each buck'et'extending from a month which opens in one side wall of the bucket and faces laterally of thebucket chain to the interior of the bucket near the bottomthereof, a -1102- zle for a water-jet.normallysituated at the approach to the point of discharge of the bucket andmounted to move inline with the lateral mouth therein about the axis of the upper tumblenas centre, and coupling means to engage the said nozzle with the upper'tumbler when in register with alateral-mouth and move itin company with each bucket as the bucket rides over the up'per tumbler, and thereafter to disengage the nozzle allowing it to returnto'its initial position for{moving in company with a following bucket.

2. The combination claimed in claim 1 wherein the nozzle is directed toward andlocated close to the sides of the series ofbuckets and the mouths of the water-channels lie-opposite and-close to the nozzles when the latter are in movement in.v company with the buckets.

3. In a bucket elevatoror dredge the combination of a chain'of buckets,'a channel in each bucket extendingfrom a mouth which opens in one side wall of the bucket and ingmeansto return the nozzle to its normal- .posltlon. v

4. The comblnation claimed in clalm 3 faceslaterally of the bucket'chain'to the interior-ofthe bucket near the bottom thereof, a nozzle, for a water-jet normally situated at the approach, to the'point of discharge of the bucket and mounted'to move in line with the.

lateral mouth therein about the axis of the upper tumbler ascentre, and coupling means to engage the nozzle with'the upper tumbler when the nozzle is in register with a lateral mouth, the said coupling means comprising an abutment connected to the nozzle, a coacting abutment carriedby the upper tumbler, one of the said abutments being movable radially of the tumbler, a disengaging cam for trippingthe mov'able abutment after apredetermined arc of movement and yieldwherein the upper tumbler is provided with a rotatable carrier on which a pawl forming the movable abutment is so mounted as to.

move radially of the .upper tumbler, and the said pawl is provided with an engaging portion to co-act with the disengaging cam.

5. The combination claimed in claim 3 wherein the upper tumbler is providedwith a rotatable carrier'on which a pawl forming the movable abutment is so mounted as to .move radially of the upper tumbler, and the said pawl is provided with an engaging por- 1 tion to co-act with the disengaging cam,

which cam is supported loosely on a bearing formed upon the carrier so that the latter is rotatable independently of the cam and the cam is maintained concentric V with the carrier. n

6. The comblnation claimed 1n claim 3 wherein means is provided for adjusting the disengaging cam circumferentially in relation to the upper tumbler.

7 The combination claimedlin claim. 3,

wherein the nozzle is mounted so as to be adjustable circumferentially in relation to the abutments.

8.'The combination claimed in claim 3 wherein the nozzle is mounted so as to be ad justable radially relatively to the tumbler.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

.F. H. COTHAY. 

